The Batsford Prize - Animism and Native American Folklore

Animism:
- the belief that all things have a spirit or soul, including animals, plants, rivers, mountains, stars, the moon and the sun.

Finding out about Animism led me onto looking at Native American culture and folklore, where animism plays a prominent part in their belief system and history. Throughout Native American folklore there is a lot of animal symbolism that are used in fables and legends across a whole load of different tribes. I noted down some common animals that pop up and what they generally symbolise.

Bear - courage, physical strength, leadership
Beaver - determination and strong will
Coyote - cunning trickster
Deer - gentleness, grace, survival 
Dog - loyalty
Eagle - divine spirit, creation, freedom
Fox - anticipation, observation, stealth
Lizard - conservation, self-protection
Raccoon - curiosity, adaptability, resourcefulness
Serpent - chaos, corruption, darkness
Squirrel - planning, the home
Snake - healing, re-birth 
Spider - creativity, weaver of the fabric of life
Turtle - good health, long life
Wolf - direction, leadership, embodies protection and destruction

I have a few little ideas floating around about how I could combine these symbolic animals into an image but at the minute i'm finding it's once again got a lack of context. I'm going to look into some folklore and fables and see how they can inform my images as well.